Hey there! Let’s talk about having reliable color and interest to our Southern landscapes year round. That sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?! To have many things blooming in the dead humid heat of August and also colorful blooms in the middle of winter! In this post, I will give a (non- exhaustive) list of ideas of plants and flowers to achieve that year round color and, so this post doesn’t get to be too much, in the next post I will go more in depth on tips for creating a garden with many months of color. Come along!

To start off, let’s give a list of plants and flowers that do well in our Middle TN area. Beside each plant I have stated whether it is a perennial (meaning it comes back year after year) or is an annual in our area. It would be too exhaustive of a post to list what each require- sun, shade, etc., but this gives you a good starting point if you are wanting year round color!

Beginning with winter:

• Lenten Rose; perennial (also known as Christmas Rose)

• Pansies; annual

• Coral Bells; perennial (no flower in winter, but colorful foliage year round)

• ‘Arctic Fire’ dogwood; shrub (beautiful brilliant red twigs in the winter)

Late winter/early spring:

• Crocus bulbs; perennial (must be planted the fall before)

• Daffodil bulbs; perennial (must be planted the fall before)

• Pansies; annual

• Forsythia; shrub

• Flowering Quince; shrub

• Loropetalum ‘Ever Red’; shrub

Spring:

• Tulip bulbs; perennial (must be planted the fall before)

• Bleeding Heart; perennial

• Columbines; perennial

• Azaleas and Rhododendrons; shrubs

Late spring/early summer:

• Peonies; perennial

• Irises; perennial

• Dianthus; perennial

• Spring/Summer annuals are blooming and bloom until frost-begonias, geraniums, vinca, zinnias, impatiens, etc.

• Early roses

• Creeping Phlox; perennial

• Astilbe; perennial

Summer:

• More roses

• Daylilies; perennial

• Hydrangeas; shrub

• Black Eyed Susan; perennial

• Coneflower;perennial

• Butterfly Bush; shrub

• Veronica; perennial

• more Spring/Summer annuals blooming

Fall:

• Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’; perennial

• Chrysanthemums; perennial

• Asters; perennial

• Pansies; annual

Next post, like I mentioned, I will lay out some tips on how to achieve a garden with year round interest and color. Exciting stuff!

Now (still more exciting stuff), another GIVEAWAY! Tell me what you love most about this time of the year! I will pick out FIVE winners (not the first five necessarily like last time!), and those five winners will each receive a coupon towards one FREE annual!!!! Annuals included are in 5″ green pots, and winners, please print your coupon and bring it in with you, as we save them with our receipts (coupons will not be redeemed by showing them on a mobile device!). Let’s get to it!What do you love most about this time of the year (related to gardening or not, it doesn’t matter to me)?!

#Winter #Spring #Summer #Fall